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for the record, I understand and agree with what you guys are saying. I was only trying to say that it isn't getting less mechanistic over time. With other ukulele skills, you start off being very schematic and have a list of things to be done. Then you just repeat the steps again and again. Eventually, the steps just disappear and you're doing it without thinking. With the drone, however, I have been at this stage for a while now and I was just chatting sociably about it. I'm not going to burn my ukulele or anything like that; I was just dismayed that it was taking so long.

You are not alone. I mean, with some things just taking forever. For me it is clawhammer. I've been working on clawhammer for years and I still can't do it. I'm about ready to say that I'm just going to have to go through life without clawhammer.

But in regard to your question about what I'm thinking with the drone, I'm not thinking anything. It just keeps time for the fancy stuff. It is just rhythm. But I don't know how I learned it, so I can't tell you. If you can do clawhammer, maybe we need to get together and start a band. I'll drone and you can clawhammer. We might be pretty good.

I just now did what I believe we are talking about, and my first note was a thumb note to get started. Seems like for the most part the drone is followed by a melody note, or two, or three, depending on what style I'm doing. I hope that we are talking about the same thing. As much as I don't like Ukulele Aerobics, I'm pretty sure that is where I picked it up, and it was early on in the book.

This one might help Ripock, it's an alternating bass arrangement that uses the thumb playing the bass notes and the fingers picking the melody. Is this the kind of thing you are wishing to learn? The thumb keeps the rhythm going with a steady boom chuck, boom chuck, and the fingers play the melody line.